Football is getting closer and a chat with Justin Spears

So good, so good, so good.

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Ladies and gentlemen...

The reigning, defending, defending, defending, defending, defending, undisputed universal heavyweight champion.

Wildcat Radio 2.0. Bear down, you beautiful people.

What's up, everybody? This is Wildcat Radio 2.0.

I'm Adam Green, he's Brett Barry, and

yes,

we're alive.

So, that's great news for most of you, I'm sure.

I hope.

Yeah, it's Adam, right? That's your name? I think you did that the last time we did a show, like a month ago.

Why would you expect me to remember a joke I did the last time, Adam? It's been 84 years.

You had all this time to

plan, and you came up with a recycled joke.

Well, it's good to be back.

Apologies again for our kind of infrequency of recording.

Summer is always a little bit difficult and with children and everything, it's just been trying to find the right time.

We also want to make sure that when we do a show, it's a good one.

We have a quality guest lined up and someone that you'd love to hear from.

And we have one of those for this show.

So, you know, Justin Spears will be joining the show.

Spoiler alert.

We got him a little bit later on to talk about Arizona football going into what is a really highly anticipated season.

I know I can't wait for that NAU game to open the seas, and it's a weird kind of expectations this year.

It's way different than it was two years ago, and I don't know exactly how I feel yet, and I think I'm going to get that closer to kickoff, but I'm excited.

I think they're going to be good, but it's college football, so from year to year, I don't know who's good.

Maybe one of our future guests, John McAleese, will tell us when we're going to be good.

We'll have to do that again this year.

Yeah, it's one of those things where I end up having to try to talk to myself.

There's also Justin McAleese, by the way.

Oh, Justin.

Well,

Justin SpearsGuest2:41

you know,

I don't remember a lot of things these days.

Yeah, you're good at this.

It's Adam, right? No, I mean, you look at the...

There's a lot of talent that went out the door.

And, you know, there's always the concern of, you know, you don't replace that many NFL guys without some level drop off.

Most of the time, Arizona is not, you know, the, you know, Clemson or Alabama or Notre Dame that has another three, four stars lined up behind them.

Right.

But also Brent Brennan and staff have had an incredibly good hit rate.

They've retained a lot of talent.

They've retained a lot of the coaching staff.

They've retained the all-conference quarterback that's a fifth-year senior.

And that quarterback is in the same system for the second straight year, which has not been common.

The defense is going to have the same coordinator for a second year for the same system.

You know, I never played college football, so I don't know how much difficulty it is with kind of the scheme and systems.

I know for somebody like Rich Rod's offense, I think – It takes a year or two because his stuff has like 17,000 iterations.

You know, at the end of the day, this season, I think, is going to...

I mean, it's the no Fafita season, right? Like, let's just cut to the chase.

There's a lot of interesting guys on this roster and a lot of talent.

But he's the straw that stirs the drink, as it were, on this.

And he's the guy that's going to help take this team as far as it can possibly go.

You know, as long as everything and everyone, including him, stays healthy and they execute.

Yeah.

I kind of disagree with that, because I think you know what you're going to get on Noah Fafita.

I don't know how much better he can be compared to last season, because we've seen two of his three seasons, he's been excellent.

So we've seen what peak Fafita can be, I think.

Now, maybe there is another level to his game with more comfort in this system.

That's entirely possible.

I'm going to leave that open, that door open, because...

I could believe that.

But, you know, I wouldn't shop another 25 touchdowns, five or fewer interceptions, a few on the ground rushing, you know, throws his legs like there's room to improve.

Yes.

But how much better can he be where Arizona will take that step forward as if improvements in other areas, you know, where if the running game can become dominant, if the defensive line can get pressure without having to be unique with its blitz schemes and having Danny Gonzalez have the Red Rover defense and all these different things.

Right.

I think Fafita is going to be Fafita.

He's elite.

He is, if not the best quarterback in the Big 12, one of the best quarterbacks in the Big 12, one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

It's the rest of the team around him.

Can they elevate their game? Can they take a step up? Will they have as many hits on their portal guys as they did or some of their freshmen or guys that have been in the system for a year or two? Can they step into roles that are a little unfamiliar or greater than what they had and excel? And if they can, then this team's going to be really, really good.

But that's the fun conversation to be having about them this season is that, I mean, they're one of the few programs who knows what they have at quarterback, I feel like, which is a gift.

Like, that is...

That is not something that everyone has as a fifth-year senior who started for four of those years, you know, and just been, you know, that dude who you could think could still have a chance to get better.

Like, it's possible.

You know, Heisman Trophy, I know Arizona, I wrote about this for Izzy Desert Swarm for feeding the Heisman stuff, and talked to Justin about that too, and Arizona was passing out flyers at Big 12 Media Days trying to promote his Heisman candidacy.

Cool.

Like that's, that's unique for Arizona to have someone who not only would you say, oh, he could win a Heisenberg or something.

Here's why he should be in the conversation.

And there's an actual resume to go with it.

Like that's, that's great.

But just in terms of what the season is for Arizona football, as we're a little more than a month away from it starting.

I just think it's what it should be.

It's fun.

You should be excited.

You should have anticipation.

You should feel good about maybe not that they're going to win 10, 11, 12 games and make the playoff, but that you want to see this team on the field.

You want to see these players play.

And I just think it's a great place to be for Arizona.

Yeah, and I think we can go into probably at a later pod kind of the way the schedule is shaking out.

Yeah, we'll

get into that in our next pod about three weeks from now.

Yeah, you know, nobody really knows in the world of NIL and Transfer Portal because a lot of schools are having new rosters every year.

It's not the same thing where you build it year over year as much as Brent Brennan and staff are still trying to kind of follow a little bit of that old model.

It just makes, you know, nobody can watch all of those football games, know all of those players with any level of confidence, and then you don't know how they're going to fit with coaching staff's injuries, etc., But now that I said all of that, let me look at the schedule, Adam.

No, it's really more, I look at the first couple of games because NAU should be a win.

I say should because I can never forget.

We can't say it

will be.

Because of painful reasons.

You know, and, you know, we got I'm going to skip BYU game for now, but you got Northern Illinois at home again should be a winnable game.

Washington State on the road should be winnable so far as a road game goes.

And it's

as good as we think they will be.

Yeah, if Arizona doesn't turn NAU into a trap game, it takes care of business on the games they should.

And if they go on the road at BYU in Week 2, I assume that's technically a non-conference game.

Is that the remnant from the old? I don't think it is.

I

think it's a conference game.

They're having a Week 2 conference game?

That's insane.

All right.

Sure.

I mean, BYU is going to be a ranked team.

Arizona very well may be a ranked team coming out in the preseason.

If you go out on the road and beat a team that was pretty darn good last year with a freshman quarterback on the road...

You're going to have the wind at your back.

You're going to have the momentum.

And then you're going to have this senior quarterback where the Heisman campaign becomes for real if you're a top-ten team.

Yeah, well, and that's the

fun thing about this schedule, though.

Their first six games, BYU is very difficult.

I'm not saying they're going to win that game because that is a challenge.

But there's nothing that says you can't – you shouldn't beat NAU.

You shouldn't beat Northern Illinois.

At Washington State, should be winnable.

Arizona, I imagine, will be favored to win that game if the season is started off the way that we – I think it will.

Then you're hosting Cincinnati, who's a new quarterback.

Arizona beat them last season.

This one's at home.

So that's a winnable game.

And then you're at West Virginia, who the Rich Rod Bowl, that's a road game.

So that's always a challenge, especially going to West Virginia.

But you're probably going to be favored to win that one as well.

So if your first six games, you should at worst be, you know, it could be 5-1, possibly 6-0.

And if you're doing that, yes, there's a lot of tough games in the back half of the schedule, but that would get the hype train rolling.

You know, if you're 6-0 especially, if you're 5-1 maybe with a loss at BYU, but it's a great game where it's, you know, competitive, kind of similar to last year's game against BYU, then you could still be there.

Yeah.

And if you take care of business in the right way, you're going to get a lot of these new guys, game reps.

You know, you've got a lot of depth on this roster.

That kind of real game experience matters.

It can set you up for, you know, a fun ride throughout the season.

But, you know, it's...

It's kind of like I felt last year with this roster in this program where it's like there's this perpetual cautious optimism and you say, all right, like I'm not 100% sure, but I feel pretty decent about this.

That's usually when...

How

could you be 100% sure about the way these rosters change over from year to year?

But that's what I'm saying.

Like if you're just saying, hey, I've got one, you know, you know, One T-Mac and the team that won zero games, right? T-Mac's not making a difference on that roster.

I mean, he does, but you're not winning a lot of games when that roster was so bad collectively.

This is a sport where you need to be greater than the sum of your parts to be great, right? Last year, Arizona's team was that, and they have some great parts, and they have like...

I want to say Arizona football great in both a positive and negative way because a guy like Noah Favita, if he's four inches taller, doesn't come to Arizona probably.

But he is, as a guy at Arizona, can have great success and stick around for all five years of his college career.

Yeah.

That's a winning formula for a program like Arizona.

And it feels like we've got a roster full of guys like that.

We've got a coaching staff that has shown a knack for both identifying and developing talent.

And this is kind of like, this is the, you know, even after you gave up a bunch of NFL picks, if you can come in and put up eight, nine, 10 wins again, maybe even have an even more magical season, then that's a fun ride.

You know, the only difference, too, is, like, obviously, if Arizona goes and wins 10, 11 games, no one's going to be upset, I don't think, at least not people who are listening to our show.

But it'd be different that the last two good Arizona seasons, you know, so 2023 and 2025, the expectations weren't there going in at all.

Maybe in 2023, they thought they'd be better, you know, Jay and Delora coming back for another season.

And it's like, okay, there's some talent on this team, but, you know, we'll see.

And they go on and win 10 games.

Like, whoa,

that was fun.

You know?

Like, they lost that game to what? Was it at home against Washington, you know? And then they didn't lose again the rest of the season.

Like, that was such a treat.

Where it's just week after week, oh, wow, maybe, yeah, they're good.

They just keep winning.

Like, this is what I like to see.

And it was very similar last season, too.

Like, Arizona lost that game to BYU at home in double overtime that they lost.

Should have won for multiple reasons and multiple different ways.

And then they didn't lose again until the Holiday Bowl.

Neither one of those seasons was expected.

Neither one of those seasons did we go in saying, this is a team that could win eight, nine, ten games.

No, we didn't.

We just had nothing in the way of expectations.

We were always excited for football season.

You always wanted to see them play and see if they can be better than you think or be good.

But no one in their right mind saw nine wins come in last season.

No one saw ten wins coming in 2023.

So if Arizona has that type of season this year, I don't want to say it would be expected.

It's Arizona football.

So I don't know if everyone expects it, you know, back-to-back years.

But it's a little bit of a different vibe because we are talking, having this conversation tonight here on July 21st about how, yeah, things are kind of lined up for them to have a season with their quarterback and the coaching staff and the transfer portal and the people they brought back, you know, the returners.

Like, yeah, there's no reason why they shouldn't be a good team next season.

And that's just a different way to approach a campaign.

Yeah, I think that's right.

And like, I think maybe because there's not the hype, there's decidedly not the hype for, you know, Arizona's campaigning for Noah for Heisman, but the Heisman odds say otherwise, which tells me he is not hyped.

You know, maybe that's a positive thing for this program where it feels like there's a cultural alignment where they're playing for each other.

And that's kind of where the magic tends to happen.

Yeah.

Well, hopefully it does.

There's still time between now and when.

We'll get to find out if it does.

But let's take a break.

When we come back, we're going to talk to Justin Spears, who is, I mean, if you're in Tucson and following Arizona Athletics, you know Justin from the radio, Spears and Ali from the Tucson Star, the Wildcaster.

He is the beat reporter, covers Arizona football, and we're going to get his take on the program as we are just a little more than a month out from the season opener.

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We're back.

It's Wildcat Radio 2.0. And like we mentioned in the first segment, we've been kind of sporadic with our recordings because we want to make sure when we do have a show, we really bring it.

And this is a perfect example.

Justin Spears joining Wildcat Radio 2.0, one of our favorite guests.

Justin, welcome back to the pod.

Justin SpearsGuest16:09

What's up, guys? Good to see you.

Justin SpearsGuest16:11

Thanks for having me on.

Oh, good to see you.

Glad you're making time for us, right, Brett?

Justin SpearsGuest16:17

Well, I mean, we've got, what, 45-ish days from the season opener.

Justin SpearsGuest16:25

Training camp is right around the corner.

Justin SpearsGuest16:27

So, yeah, man, we're officially here, man.

Justin SpearsGuest16:30

It's football season.

Justin SpearsGuest16:31

Full go.

Is it really football season for you right now? I mean, you don't even have the runway to lead into.

For you, as a beat reporter, the season started.

I mean, you're covering barbecue joints and everything.

There's so much going on.

Justin SpearsGuest16:43

Yeah, well, you know, I try to soak in as much as I can during this time.

Justin SpearsGuest16:47

Like, I'm actually getting ready to go play a round of golf this week.

Justin SpearsGuest16:51

And then I think after this round of golf is where I put the clubs away for at least four to five months.

Justin SpearsGuest16:59

So I'm going to have my little...

Justin SpearsGuest17:03

My service afterwards, I'm going to shed a few tears and put away my golf clubs for the fall and get ready for what should be a very fun Arizona football season.

Justin SpearsGuest17:13

I think also right now I'm spending time on going to the movies.

Justin SpearsGuest17:17

I have some other things that are keeping me busy, but I'm just trying to soak up as much as I can before I'm working around the clock seven days a week with these Arizona Wildcats.

I'm just imagining you saying shanks for all the memories.

I mean, thanks for all the memories before you put them away.

Justin SpearsGuest17:34

Well, dude, I try to break 100 every time I go out.

Justin SpearsGuest17:36

So you best believe there's at least, you know, there's several shanks.

Justin SpearsGuest17:41

Let's just say that whenever I go out on the

golf course.

Oh, when I play golf, I can score way higher than 100.

Justin SpearsGuest17:46

I can crush

you.

What you guys need to understand, though, is you get more value per swing the more swings you take.

Justin SpearsGuest17:51

That's what I'm saying.

Justin SpearsGuest17:52

I'm like, okay, cool, you're a scratch golfer.

Justin SpearsGuest17:55

Okay, I shot a 120, but I spent the same amount of money as you, and I got twice as many shots.

Justin SpearsGuest18:03

And

you got to see more of the

Justin SpearsGuest18:05

course.

Justin SpearsGuest18:06

And I got to see more of the course.

Justin SpearsGuest18:07

But

I was going to say, though, I mean, in true beat reporter fashion, you should know that if you're on the golf course, that's when news will break.

So, you know, maybe now is not the time we want that for football, because right now no news is good news in terms of like injuries or any off the field type of stuff.

But I think generally speaking, during recruiting season, that's when you want to be on the course.

But Justin, let's get into it.

Arizona football, he says like 45 days away from the season opener NAU fall camp is going to start.

And it seems like.

I mean, I think we keep every time we talk about football, we talk about how the difference is like from a year ago where things are.

But coming off the season that they were now the offseason that, you know, you don't usually see the fruits of a good season in the recruiting class or the offseason the year after.

Right.

The most immediate one, because you need to sustain it, the recruiting class, although the transfer portal is a thing and immediacy helps there.

But just how different is it for Arizona football now? You know, less than two months out going into the twenty twenty six season compared to the twenty twenty five season and then compared to the twenty twenty four season.

Justin SpearsGuest19:03

Yeah, well, the 2024 season, it was all about keeping everybody intact, keeping the roster intact.

Justin SpearsGuest19:10

And as Brent Brennan alluded to many times over the last couple of years, he did a lot of kissing ass.

Justin SpearsGuest19:17

And he took in a team that won 10 games and went to the Alamo Bowl and had NFL players on its roster.

Justin SpearsGuest19:25

And...

Justin SpearsGuest19:27

he tried to maintain what Jetfish had built.

Justin SpearsGuest19:30

Now, because of the timing of his hire in January, he missed out on the first transfer portal window, had some players leave the program.

Justin SpearsGuest19:38

It just wasn't necessarily the best hand that he could have been dealt, right? Because Brent Brennan, sure he kept T-Mac, sure he kept Noah Fafita, Jonas Savianaya, even to Carter Davis.

Justin SpearsGuest19:49

But if you look at the depth of this roster, there were a number of holes.

Justin SpearsGuest19:54

And the guys that they got in the transfer portal, the guys that they signed for that recruiting class in 2024, a lot of them entered the transfer portal and didn't end up playing at Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest20:06

So I think that...

Justin SpearsGuest20:11

In 2025, it allowed Brent to go through a whole season and go through the multiple transfer portal cycles and also identify the kind of players that he wants to have in this program.

Justin SpearsGuest20:24

And he wants to have experienced players, number one.

Justin SpearsGuest20:27

But I guess more importantly, he also wants just good people.

Justin SpearsGuest20:31

And if you get to know these guys that are part of the Arizona football program, they're all just great dudes and great personalities, guys with great stories.

Justin SpearsGuest20:39

Like I love Ismail Mahdi, the newest owner of Dickie's Barbecue Pit here in Tucson, Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest20:47

His family coming in from Kenya, they were war refugees that came over from Africa to Dallas and settled there.

Justin SpearsGuest20:56

settled their lives in Texas, and now he's a great running back.

Justin SpearsGuest21:01

The vegetarian offensive lineman in Ty Buchanan last year, what an interesting story that was.

Justin SpearsGuest21:06

So there's just a lot of interesting people and good people with Arizona football.

Justin SpearsGuest21:10

But if you look at a lot of their productive guys last year in 2025, they were coming in from FCS, Group of Five.

Justin SpearsGuest21:21

They identified, okay, we've got to get the most experienced guys.

Justin SpearsGuest21:26

but they're, they're very productive.

Justin SpearsGuest21:28

Yeah, sure.

Justin SpearsGuest21:29

It might be at a place like Chattanooga, like a guy like Jayma Watley, but you can't deny the production.

Justin SpearsGuest21:35

And so they brought in these guys and they had a high hit rate with the transfer portal guys.

Justin SpearsGuest21:40

And then also, you know, they were able to retain some key players on defense, you know, Genesis Smith, Dalton Johnson, Trayden Stukes, you know, those guys could have easily gone elsewhere, but they, you know, found it very important to, to have one last season together at Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest21:56

And then getting Noah Fafita, QB1, a guy that could have made a lot of money playing for a lot of other schools, and he decided to stay at Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest22:06

So I think the culture that Brent Brennan has established here, it's a good one.

Justin SpearsGuest22:12

2024, there's no denying it.

Justin SpearsGuest22:14

It was a rough start.

Justin SpearsGuest22:15

And I think a huge part of that was – The coaches that he brought in, or that he hired, he recognized that, okay, the guys that we brought in, like Dino Babers, not a good fit for what we want to do offensively.

Justin SpearsGuest22:29

So they bring in Seth Dagey, and it's night and day different, especially the passing offense.

Justin SpearsGuest22:34

I mean, they went from... a team that could barely score 23 points per game to now they're averaging 34.

Justin SpearsGuest22:41

And they have one of the best passing units in the Big 12 and one of the most balanced offenses too.

Justin SpearsGuest22:46

And then I think the job that Danny Gonzalez has done on the defensive side of the football, his creativity, his ability to identify the strengths of certain players and put them in position to make plays on the field, I think Danny Gonzalez has reestablished himself as one of the top defensive play callers in the game.

Justin SpearsGuest23:07

And then bringing in big Joe Salavea back to mentor the defensive line.

Justin SpearsGuest23:10

I mean, the resume speaks for itself.

Justin SpearsGuest23:12

Not only is he an Arizona legend, but he played in the NFL.

Justin SpearsGuest23:16

He's developed guys.

Justin SpearsGuest23:17

NFL players at every single stop that he's been at, from Washington State to Oregon to Miami.

Justin SpearsGuest23:23

I mean, he's got a very impressive resume.

Justin SpearsGuest23:25

I mean, the guys from Miami that just got drafted this past year, they worked with Joe Salavea for a couple of years before Joe came over to Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest23:34

And then Hercules Mata'afa at Washington State.

Justin SpearsGuest23:38

Kayvon Thibodeau at Oregon, who was actually just in Tucson recently talking to members of the Arizona football team and stopped by the U of A facility.

Justin SpearsGuest23:46

So...

Does he have any eligibility left? What's that? Does he have eligibility left just in case? I

Justin SpearsGuest23:51

mean, I think that 5-for-5 rule applies to him, so maybe.

I'm just wondering, but go on,

Justin SpearsGuest23:55

yeah.

Justin SpearsGuest23:56

But yeah, I mean, I think that just getting the right coaches at the right seat at the table, it allowed Arizona to have a really good year or two under Brian Brennan.

Justin SpearsGuest24:06

And now things are just kind of...

Justin SpearsGuest24:09

I mean, of course, Arizona, they've got some holes that they need to fill.

Justin SpearsGuest24:12

There's a handful of questions going into the season.

Justin SpearsGuest24:16

But the camaraderie, everything just seems more calm, which is a really good thing for Arizona.

Well, you're kind of leading to where I was wanting to ask because, you know, a lot of the hit rate has also been on the coaching staff and the retention of the coaching staff.

Listen to the Wildcast with the interview with Danny Gonzalez, which was a fantastic interview.

And the thing that really stuck out to me is how much this coaching staff seems to like and respect each other.

And also, it's very clear from Danny Gonzalez.

He wants to beat into these young kids' brains that just because he won nine games last year does not mean people are going to let you win nine games without a fight.

Yep.

Is this is this the year where the culture and program that Brent Brennan is trying to build? Like, is this the year that the foundation gets solidified? So it is truly a program and not just I mean, Danny Gonzalez talked about this.

They need to not have, you know, every time Arizona football has a good year, they tend to fall off hard the next year.

Is this where you're building something durable, and how much does the coaching staff, with the signed extensions by fan favorite DRF, obviously, making great decisions? I see you guys are smiling.

Our listeners know how we like to be snarky and poke fun at people, because everybody loves DRF, right?

Justin SpearsGuest25:38

Oh, huge.

Justin SpearsGuest25:40

She's very, very popular.

Justin SpearsGuest25:42

Very popular among the people.

The people love a successful athletics program and success on the field is a result of that, right? Anyway, I digress.

I guess a long windup to say...

How critical is it that this coaching staff has retained? The only person that left was to go take a head coaching job.

And even listening to Danny Gonzalez on the wildcast, it sounds like everybody kind of knows that Daigie wants to be a head coach.

Uh, but it sounds like, you know, Danny Gonzalez has been there and done that and saying that he wants to be around for awhile.

How much does that culture, you know, how much of that is just based in the staff and their togetherness and how much does that bleed through to the program?

Justin SpearsGuest26:28

Yeah, well, I will say this.

Justin SpearsGuest26:31

Pretty much, I wouldn't say every coach, there were a handful of coaches on Arizona staff that actually had attention from other schools.

Justin SpearsGuest26:41

You know, there were other schools that were poking around looking at the Arizona staff.

Justin SpearsGuest26:46

And despite the interest from other schools, everybody wanted to stay here.

Justin SpearsGuest26:50

Everybody wanted to be a part of what Brent is building here at Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest26:56

And Seth, he's got all the head coaching traits.

Justin SpearsGuest27:00

He's a really good motivator.

Justin SpearsGuest27:01

He's a really good coach.

Justin SpearsGuest27:03

developer of talent like you could see it from his time going all the way back to you know when he was at Marshall and I think that what he's done with no Fafita it's going to be a nice feather in his cap and Seth of course got interest after what he did at Arizona but finishing what he started with Noah Fafita is very important to him.

Justin SpearsGuest27:26

And so I could imagine that Seth – and it doesn't surprise me that Seth came back, and then it also doesn't surprise me that Arizona locked him down for the next few years.

Justin SpearsGuest27:34

But I do think that eventually Seth is going to be a head coach someday.

Justin SpearsGuest27:39

When that will be, I don't know.

Justin SpearsGuest27:41

But you could definitely tell that Danny and Brent – especially they are really uh kind of taking him under their wing and you could see you know when when Seth does his uh his media availabilities you know that's that stage that they have at the Lowell Stevens football facility in the media room you know normally the assistant coaches just go and sit down at the table and just kind of relax you can ask them a bunch of questions but Seth has made it a point to get up and stand up at the podium and talk like he's a head coach.

Justin SpearsGuest28:19

The only other coach that does that is Brent.

Justin SpearsGuest28:21

So you can kind of see that they're making him the head coach or training him to be a head coach.

Justin SpearsGuest28:29

Yeah.

Justin SpearsGuest28:31

But I think that with Danny G, the one thing that I found interesting was, yeah, he's contracted through 2028, but he said he wants to be here through at least 2032.

Justin SpearsGuest28:41

And he's going to coach through 2036, which I find to be a lie because that guy is an absolute maniac, and that guy can never stay away from the game of football.

Justin SpearsGuest28:52

But...

Justin SpearsGuest28:53

I think that was just so refreshing where he was like, listen, I've been a head coach and it would have to be an extraordinary opportunity.

Justin SpearsGuest29:02

And Danny pretty much said it without saying it, that the only way he's leaving is if there's a power for head coaching job.

Justin SpearsGuest29:10

And he's got the opportunity to compete for college football national championships and get to the CFP every year.

Justin SpearsGuest29:17

He would much rather be a defensive coordinator for a team that has a chance to get into the CFP.

Justin SpearsGuest29:23

And as this thing continues to evolve and grow, the Arizona Wildcats are going to have a legitimate shot at getting into the CFP and contending for national championships.

Justin SpearsGuest29:33

And so that is important to Danny.

Justin SpearsGuest29:34

He wants to be in the CFP conversation, compete in college football at the highest level, and he would much rather do that being a defensive coordinator than being a head coach for a group of five schools.

Justin SpearsGuest29:46

And, you know, he's an awesome motivator.

Justin SpearsGuest29:49

You know, guys love him.

Justin SpearsGuest29:51

And, you know, you can listen to his press conferences all the time, and the dude – I mean, he knows more about football in one pinky nail than I know in my whole body.

Justin SpearsGuest30:00

I mean, this guy is a mad scientist when it comes to football.

Justin SpearsGuest30:04

And yeah, I mean, he is one of the key components to Arizona really turning things around under Brent Brennan.

Justin SpearsGuest30:12

And how it's going to look without the...

Justin SpearsGuest30:15

the three-headed monster, and trade in Stukes, Genesis Smith, and Dalton Johnson.

Justin SpearsGuest30:19

That's going to be really interesting.

Justin SpearsGuest30:20

But you know what? If eight of those defensive backs that he got in the portal come in and shine, Gavin Hunter turns out to be a really good defensive back for the Wildcats.

Justin SpearsGuest30:29

Javion Cole ends up leading the league in interceptions this year.

Justin SpearsGuest30:33

Maybe we're going to be looking at Danny Gonzalez and also Chip Viney and Brett Arce, the defensive backs coach.

Justin SpearsGuest30:39

Those guys have been there forever.

Justin SpearsGuest30:41

from day one.

Justin SpearsGuest30:42

And, you know, we'd have to, you know, really give those guys their flowers.

Justin SpearsGuest30:45

But going back to your question, Brad, you know, I think that it's just so important to have that sort of continuity because now – and like Josh Oglesby, the offensive line coach, he made a really good point when he said this.

Justin SpearsGuest30:58

You know, like think about it like class.

Justin SpearsGuest31:00

You know, like we're back in school.

Justin SpearsGuest31:01

You know, you're not – You're not teaching a whole new subject.

Justin SpearsGuest31:05

Now these guys are going on to Algebra 2.

Justin SpearsGuest31:08

Last year they were in Algebra 1.

Justin SpearsGuest31:10

Now they're moving up to Algebra 2, and you're just stacking these courses on top of each other rather than just completely learning a whole new thing.

Justin SpearsGuest31:18

The offense had to learn a whole new system under Seth Daigie.

Justin SpearsGuest31:22

Now they're just fine-tuning some things and even adding.

Justin SpearsGuest31:25

I think now with a healthy tight end room, you're going to see more – 12 personnel, 13 personnel, some unique formations with tight ends.

Justin SpearsGuest31:35

And who knows how they use Noah Fafita this year.

Justin SpearsGuest31:38

So I think you're going to see a lot of creativeness or creativity with the offense.

Justin SpearsGuest31:43

And then I also think that with defense, I think they did a really good job in the transfer portal.

Justin SpearsGuest31:50

And I also think that the guys that they have coming back and Gavin Hunter and JV on Cole, those are really good foundation blocks in that secondary.

Justin SpearsGuest31:57

And then I, they don't have to learn Danny Gonzalez defense.

Justin SpearsGuest32:00

And so Gavin Hunter and JV on Cole, you know, they can also help speed up the process for a lot of these newcomers that are coming in at defensive backs, because they're going to need those guys, uh, to be really good.

Justin SpearsGuest32:11

If Arizona wants to have a chance to win a lot of games this year.

Justin SpearsGuest32:14

So, um, Yeah, it's the camaraderie, man.

Justin SpearsGuest32:17

I mean, Arizona, think about this.

Justin SpearsGuest32:19

Since 2019, they had, as far as defensive coordinators, they had Marcel Yates, Chuck Cecil as an interim.

Justin SpearsGuest32:29

They had Paul Rhodes, they had Don Brown, they had Johnny Nansen, Dwayne Akina, and now Danny Gonzalez.

Justin SpearsGuest32:37

And trade on Stukes, meanwhile, is playing for all these guys outside of Marcel Yates and Chuck Cecil, but just think about how many defensive coordinators have come through Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest32:47

There's been a handful of offensive play callers, too, but...

Justin SpearsGuest32:51

Now, for the first time ever, or for the first time in, man, it feels like at least a decade, Arizona has all the most important coaches back at the table again.

You know, it's interesting because all the stuff you talk about points to this being like a unique situation for Arizona because they were able to keep Seth Daigie for another year.

And I don't know.

I think Danny Gonzalez would leave for a powerful job like you said.

And I don't know if he's going to get offered that type of a job even with a good year at Arizona.

Seth Daigie, if he wants to be a head coach and get his clock started on that, he could go for a lower level job.

If Arizona has a good season, those guys are going to be hot commodities once again.

But for Arizona, they might be signed for a few more years.

Doesn't mean they're going to stay.

That's just how college football works.

Same thing with having players, right? It's a year-to-year proposition.

So just the uniqueness of this season for Arizona, that all these things seem to align for them, that they have the continuity of coaching staff.

They have QB1 back as a fifth-year guy, as a productive senior quarterback, which Arizona rarely ever has a good senior quarterback.

They have depth at receiver.

Guys came back.

You got the good transfer portal haul and everything.

It certainly seems like this year is setting up to be a special season, but we thought that two years ago, and then things fell apart.

So those types of expectations, do you sense that around the program? We're like, okay, we won nine games last season.

We could be a college football playoff team this season.

Are they kind of keeping that underdog, that kind of even keel mentality of, hey, just redline our way through and see what happens?

Justin SpearsGuest34:16

It's kind of like a little bit of both.

Justin SpearsGuest34:17

They have shown, okay, we've won this many games.

Justin SpearsGuest34:21

We are very capable of being a very good football program.

Justin SpearsGuest34:25

But Danny Gonzalez has pointed this out.

Justin SpearsGuest34:27

History shows that the year after Arizona has a good year, it doesn't end so well for the Wildcats.

Justin SpearsGuest34:33

So they're humble enough to be like, okay, we've got to keep a chip on our shoulder.

Justin SpearsGuest34:38

And we have to buck the trend.

Justin SpearsGuest34:41

We have to, you know, history is not on Arizona's side for the 2026 season.

Justin SpearsGuest34:47

But, you know, if you look at the components, like you just said, bring it back, in my opinion, the greatest quarterback in Arizona history in Noah Fafita.

Justin SpearsGuest34:56

You got all those coordinators coming back.

Justin SpearsGuest34:58

I think the wide receiver room is going to be electric this year.

Justin SpearsGuest35:00

I think that Trey Spivey, when it's all said and done, is going to turn into an all-Big 12 guy and an NFL wide receiver.

Justin SpearsGuest35:08

And he's a guy that's not really getting a lot of preseason love this year, both from the Big 12 and also the college football 27 video game.

Justin SpearsGuest35:19

So I think that Arizona, they kind of like flying under the radar.

Justin SpearsGuest35:25

But they've also let everybody know, especially teams in the Big 12, that, hey, Brent Brennan, they're starting to turn things around.

Justin SpearsGuest35:33

And I think the schedule, I think it favors Arizona this year.

Justin SpearsGuest35:39

I think there are some tough games, don't get me wrong.

Justin SpearsGuest35:42

But, you know, I look at BYU week two, and Danny G talked about this ad nauseum.

Justin SpearsGuest35:50

You know, that's the game.

Justin SpearsGuest35:53

I mean, he's been talking about BYU for a long time.

Justin SpearsGuest35:56

I mean, really ever since the schedule came out, he has been coming out with a game plan for BYU.

Justin SpearsGuest36:01

You should have

beat him last year.

Justin SpearsGuest36:03

Exactly.

Justin SpearsGuest36:04

Double overtime.

Justin SpearsGuest36:04

They know it.

Justin SpearsGuest36:05

Aiden Garns falls in that fumble.

Justin SpearsGuest36:08

You know, we're talking about a completely different story, right? And so now he is reminding these guys, hey, you guys almost beat them last year.

Justin SpearsGuest36:18

We're going up to Provo week two, and Danny has a whole game plan for Bear Bachmeier and LJ Martin.

Justin SpearsGuest36:25

And these guys are just so hyped up for this game.

Justin SpearsGuest36:29

And I think that week two in Provo, I mean, that's a...

Justin SpearsGuest36:34

That's a hell of a game for Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest36:36

And if you could start off the season 2-0 with a win over a top, I would imagine, 15 BYU program on the road, man, what a way to start for Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest36:47

And that's really setting the tone for the rest of the season.

Justin SpearsGuest36:50

And then it'll be nice to see that game against Washington State where Noah Fafita won his first career start.

Justin SpearsGuest36:59

After losing to Washington and USC in really close games in 2023, going on the road against Washington State and just molly whopping the Cougars.

Justin SpearsGuest37:12

Him going back, oh man, I'm sure you were having the time of your life.

Justin SpearsGuest37:15

And it's so crazy to think that Cam Ward was playing quarterback for Washington State.

Justin SpearsGuest37:20

The number one overall pick... was just completely shut down after that first drive.

Justin SpearsGuest37:25

But yeah, him going back to Washington State where he got that winning streak started, I think that's going to be a special moment for him.

Justin SpearsGuest37:33

And then he's going to continue to chase history and pass Nick Foles for the most career passing yards.

Justin SpearsGuest37:41

When that will happen, I would imagine probably at the start of Big 12 play.

Justin SpearsGuest37:46

But you never know with Noah Fafita.

Justin SpearsGuest37:49

And I just think that this season...

Justin SpearsGuest37:52

It's destined for the Wildcats to have a lot of incredible and memorable moments.

Justin SpearsGuest37:57

But you know what? We have also said that about a number of Arizona football teams over the years.

Justin SpearsGuest38:03

And you know, I kind of got PTSD, guys, a little bit.

Justin SpearsGuest38:08

I don't know if you guys felt the same way, but...

Justin SpearsGuest38:11

When Arizona was passing out the Heisman flyers at Big 12 Media Day, the Noah Fafita for Heisman campaign, and it's his resume, and they're trying to start the Heisman campaign, right? I got shades of Khalil Tate on the Sports Illustrated cover when they said, hand him the Heisman.

Justin SpearsGuest38:31

I was like, no, please don't do this.

Justin SpearsGuest38:33

But then again, I'm like, you know what? I shouldn't be feeling like this because – Brent Brennan's coaching him.

Justin SpearsGuest38:39

Seth Dagey's coaching him.

Justin SpearsGuest38:40

Not Kevin Sumlin and Norma Zoney.

Justin SpearsGuest38:43

So I feel much better about Noah's situation than I did with Khalil.

I was going to ask you about that because you were at media days and they're passing those out.

And I like Arizona doing that if only because it's like you're trying to prop up like Noah's this underrated guy around the country.

People don't think of him as one of the best quarterbacks.

You're saying, hey, just think of Noah too.

Noah's not going to win the Heisman.

I think short of Arizona going undefeated and him putting up video game numbers, which if Arizona goes undefeated, their running game is going to be a big part of it.

So I don't think he's going to put up those types of numbers.

But it doesn't mean he's not one of the best quarterbacks in the country, not an amazing story, and go down as the best quarterback in Arizona history.

But what do you think it says about where the program is now? That in year three of the Brent Brennan era, they were doing that.

They were saying, okay, here's our quarterback.

Here's why he should be a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Because you're putting some pressure on him in the national way, saying, hey, watch this guy.

Watch this kid.

He's that good.

And one, you're trusting that Noah's not going to be – he's not going to have any trouble with that, right, with any of that pressure.

It's Noah Fafita coming into this season.

Yeah.

But as for Arizona as a program, what do you think it says about them that they are confident enough in their quarterback and their score? It's like, check this guy out for Heisman because, one, we think he's going to be good, and, two, we think we're going to be good, too.

Yeah,

Justin SpearsGuest39:51

and his Heisman candidacy is all going to come down to just how good Arizona is.

Justin SpearsGuest39:56

And Danny said it on our podcast.

Justin SpearsGuest39:58

He's like...

Justin SpearsGuest39:59

Hey, if we're 12-0, you best believe that Noah Fafita is going to be sitting in New York waiting for the Heisman.

I'll buy that,

Justin SpearsGuest40:05

yeah.

Justin SpearsGuest40:06

And he's totally right.

Justin SpearsGuest40:08

And I do think that Noah has a very unique story and probably one that we might not see in college football for a long time because he was underrated.

Justin SpearsGuest40:19

signed with Arizona and is going to end his career at Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest40:24

And in this era, that's starting to become a rarity.

Justin SpearsGuest40:27

Noah is one of five senior quarterbacks to start and end their career at Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest40:36

One of five in all of college football this year.

Justin SpearsGuest40:39

So he's got that going for him.

Justin SpearsGuest40:42

He also has the stats as well.

Justin SpearsGuest40:45

He is the active career touchdowns leader in college football right now with 73.

Justin SpearsGuest40:50

He's also got, you know, the Arizona football record as well.

Justin SpearsGuest40:53

He's chasing history this year.

Justin SpearsGuest40:55

And, you know, that's also important to let the Heisman voters know because, you know, I can imagine that maybe not a lot of Heisman voters know about that.

Justin SpearsGuest41:03

Like, hey, just so you know, Like halfway through the season or, you know, at the start of Big 12 play, Noah is going to be passing Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles for the most passing yards.

Justin SpearsGuest41:14

And then look at all the other stats that he's got, like Pac-12 freshman of the year.

Justin SpearsGuest41:19

You know, this the Pro Football Writers Association of America freshman All-American or freshman of the year.

Justin SpearsGuest41:26

Like he's got a very impressive resume.

Justin SpearsGuest41:29

And then, you know, when you have all the Heisman Trophy voters under one roof, right? I mean, there were national guys there.

Justin SpearsGuest41:37

There were guys that cover teams in the Big 12 who are also Heisman voters.

Justin SpearsGuest41:42

So you have all these guys that have an influence on the Heisman Trophy, and they're all under one roof.

Justin SpearsGuest41:48

Why not remind them, like, hey, just so you know, This guy, he's chasing history, and he is one of the best stories, if not the best story, in college football.

Justin SpearsGuest41:58

Maybe just consider him for the Heisman Trophy.

Well, to that point, have you ever seen a, in now Power Four, returning first-team all-conference quarterback have less hype than Noah Fafita?

Justin SpearsGuest42:15

Yeah, it's crazy.

Justin SpearsGuest42:16

Like, going back to the whole Heisman thing, I was like, you know what, let me look at his Heisman odds.

Justin SpearsGuest42:20

And I went to FanDuel, and I looked it up, and I was like, wait, he's got the 35th best odds out of all the people in college football? And I was like, wait, wait, how many Big 12 quarterbacks are in front of him? And I started counting, and I was like, Devin Dampier, Barrett Bachmeier, Connor Wegman.

Justin SpearsGuest42:36

I'm like, wow, Noah's really got the 7th best odds out of Big 12 quarterbacks to win the Heisman.

Justin SpearsGuest42:44

And I'm like, you know, maybe last year, going into last season, after the season that he had, I could see that.

Justin SpearsGuest42:50

But, I mean, the guy was an all-Big 12 quarterback.

Justin SpearsGuest42:55

The first team all-Big 12 quarterback.

Justin SpearsGuest42:57

He is a preseason...

Justin SpearsGuest42:59

First team, all Big 12 quarterback.

Justin SpearsGuest43:01

And yet, for some reason, these gambling sites, they're just...

Justin SpearsGuest43:06

They're not buying the...

Justin SpearsGuest43:07

They're not sipping the Noah Fafita Kool-Aid.

Justin SpearsGuest43:09

They are not buying the Noah Fafita stock.

Justin SpearsGuest43:11

They're like, yeah, Drew Mestemaker from Oklahoma State...

Justin SpearsGuest43:15

Devin Dampier, Barrett Bachmeier, all these other guys, we think that they got better chances of winning the Heisman.

Justin SpearsGuest43:20

I'm like, no way.

Justin SpearsGuest43:22

I think Noah Fafita is the best quarterback in the Big 12.

Justin SpearsGuest43:24

I'm not going to sit there and be like, and it's not even close because there's some really good quarterbacks in the Big 12.

Justin SpearsGuest43:30

Don't get me wrong.

Justin SpearsGuest43:31

I think Drew Mestemaker is going to be awesome this year.

Justin SpearsGuest43:33

I think Devin Dampier, what he can do both in the passing game and the running game, he's a good quarterback.

Justin SpearsGuest43:39

Barrett Bachmeier is perfect for what BYU does.

Justin SpearsGuest43:43

Connor Wegman, big-body quarterback, got a lot of experience playing college football.

Justin SpearsGuest43:48

There are some good quarterbacks in the Big 12, but when I think about Noah Fafita's skill set, also his story in college football, to me, I think that he deserves to have better odds to win the Heisman Trophy.

Justin SpearsGuest43:59

But I totally agree with you, Brett.

Justin SpearsGuest44:00

I'm like, man, for a guy that's a first-team, all-conference quarterback, it seems like he's getting no love whatsoever.

Justin SpearsGuest44:05

And that's a big reason why these guys at Arizona are – trying to start the Noah Fafita for Heisman campaign.

Justin SpearsGuest44:12

And they are constantly pushing like, hey, you guys got to remember that Noah Fafita is still that guy.

Well, correct me if I'm wrong.

Maybe I'm misremembering this.

I'm probably reading one of your articles from Media Days.

Weren't the receivers themselves talking about to the media that their job is to get Noah the Heisman? They view that as their job.

I read that somewhere, and it's like that kind of tells you, I think, the alignment in this program where there's a togetherness there and they want to win.

There's a bigger thing when you want to win for the other guy.

Yeah.

And Noah Fafita is that kind of guy that is the selfless leader that then all the people follow and they want to see him succeed more than they individually succeed, which that's where magic happens on a football program.

Justin SpearsGuest44:58

No doubt.

Justin SpearsGuest44:59

And I think that Noah, he gets guys to rally around him.

Justin SpearsGuest45:05

And the guys just love Noah.

Justin SpearsGuest45:09

And his leadership is... is something that gets just guys to just gravitate towards him.

Justin SpearsGuest45:16

And he's the kind of guy where he wants to hype up everybody on his team.

Justin SpearsGuest45:20

And the only time we ever talk to him is after losses.

Justin SpearsGuest45:24

So he's all about taking accountability when things go bad.

Justin SpearsGuest45:28

But when things are good, he is always letting his other teammates take the shine.

Justin SpearsGuest45:33

And now his teammates, guys like Trey Spivey, they're like, nah, bro, you're QB1.

Justin SpearsGuest45:39

You're the face of our program.

Justin SpearsGuest45:41

you got to take some of the shine too.

Justin SpearsGuest45:45

And so they understand that in order for Noah to get the Heisman, they got to catch some footballs, they got to make some plays in the passing game too.

Justin SpearsGuest45:54

And they're doing whatever they can to campaign Noah to win that Heisman.

Justin SpearsGuest45:58

And yeah, he's an unbelievable leader.

Justin SpearsGuest46:02

And one thing that says a lot about Noah is, And just his leadership and just how people really adore him and admire him is...

Justin SpearsGuest46:11

He had a charity golf tournament pretty recently, a La Paloma Country Club, for his foundation.

Justin SpearsGuest46:16

And...

Justin SpearsGuest46:17

You saw so many people go out.

Justin SpearsGuest46:20

Brent Brenner was out there handing out water bottles.

Justin SpearsGuest46:22

You had assistant coaches that were out there playing golf.

Justin SpearsGuest46:25

So many of his teammates were out there playing golf as well.

Justin SpearsGuest46:30

And, you know, I remember seeing that support.

Justin SpearsGuest46:32

I was like, you know, man, these guys love playing and they love being teammates with Noah Fafita.

Justin SpearsGuest46:39

And I thought about that movie Draft Day with Kevin Costner where they were reluctant to take that quarterback because he had a birthday party and nobody showed up for his birthday party because he was like the biggest jerk in the world.

Justin SpearsGuest46:53

And then I go to this golf tournament and I see as many faces as I can that are associated with Arizona football being there.

Justin SpearsGuest47:00

And then you see donors and you see – the Arizona softball had a team out there.

Justin SpearsGuest47:06

Um, there were other U of a athletes that participated in this golf tournament and it's because no Fafita is the face of Arizona athletics.

Justin SpearsGuest47:15

And he's also just a great human being that you want to be around.

You know what, though? It's kind of interesting.

You'd think sometimes in sports, if someone's going for an individual award, you worry about them.

I don't think anyone's worried about Noah Fita because he's not going to change the way he plays to try to win a Heisman Trophy.

He knows that they have to win games.

And I wonder if this is the type of thing where, obviously, it could all come down with one loss.

If they lose to BYU, that's going to hurt his chances, and things can happen.

But if it could give the team and guys like Trey Spivey and Chris Hunter and that offensive line just a little bit more juice, to say, okay, we don't want to be the ones who let him down.

Not that they're playing tight, but they're playing just a little bit of extra motivation.

Do you think that's going to be a thing for them where it's like when they say, we got to do this for Noah, we got to get him to Heisman, that they really mean that and maybe they're going to play just a little bit harder or be a little bit more focused in trying to help him reach that point, get to...

Justin SpearsGuest48:03

Oh, they're going to protect Noah Fafita at all costs this year.

Justin SpearsGuest48:06

And I'm talking, like, after every play, they're all going to rally to Noah, pick him up off the grass, and help him.

Justin SpearsGuest48:12

Like, they love Noah.

Justin SpearsGuest48:15

And so I do think that the – If Noah plays well too, for a guy like Trey Spivey, if Noah plays well throwing him the football, that means that Trey Spivey is also playing well and he's going to become a high NFL draft pick.

Justin SpearsGuest48:33

So I do think that Trey Spivey especially, he's going to play a little extra hard for Noah this year.

Justin SpearsGuest48:40

And then I think it could result in him becoming an NFL player.

Justin SpearsGuest48:43

So yeah.

Justin SpearsGuest48:45

Also, Seth Daigie and Josh Miller, who is the tight ends coach, and Bobby Wade as well, Brent, everybody associated with the offensive staff, they went about making sure that they put the right weapons around Noah because they want to maximize Noah Favita in his last year.

Justin SpearsGuest49:02

They brought in some really good wide receivers from the transfer portal like D.J. Jordan.

Justin SpearsGuest49:07

Who could very well keep up the streak of Arizona's number four being the leading receiver, like Tetero McMillan a couple years ago and then last year with Chris Hudson.

Justin SpearsGuest49:17

So DJ Jordan has some big shoes to fill rocking that number four jersey.

Justin SpearsGuest49:21

But...

Justin SpearsGuest49:22

I do think that he is a really good wide receiver that Arizona recruited a couple years ago.

Justin SpearsGuest49:28

He was a highly talented recruit, but ended up going to USC.

Justin SpearsGuest49:32

Things happened at USC where he wasn't getting as much playing time as he thought he would and thought that maybe coming to Arizona was the best fit for him.

Justin SpearsGuest49:41

And so getting him, getting Jordan Ross from Colorado State, Rodney Gallagher III, who I think is going to be maybe a fan favorite for Arizona this year because he is such a good returner, really good special teams guy as well, and a really good route runner.

Justin SpearsGuest49:58

And he's going to make some plays.

Justin SpearsGuest50:01

on the offensive end for Arizona this year.

Justin SpearsGuest50:04

They did a really diligent job.

Justin SpearsGuest50:07

They were very diligent.

Justin SpearsGuest50:08

They were very calculated on the kind of players that they brought in through the transfer portal.

Justin SpearsGuest50:14

I think the guys that they added at tight end, between Cole Rusk, between Arthur Bann, Shane King, who they call Shug, I think those three guys along with the returner and Tyler Powell, I think the weapons around Noah, it's as good as it's ever been.

Justin SpearsGuest50:31

Or I wouldn't say ever been because that 2023 team was pretty damn good.

Justin SpearsGuest50:35

But you guys know what I mean.

Justin SpearsGuest50:37

I mean, it's a pretty good overall – loaded group of skill players.

Justin SpearsGuest50:42

The only thing is, is can those tackles stay healthy? Tristan Bounds, can he stay healthy? Can Matthew Lotto take that next step going into year three in this program? The continuity on the offensive line is huge.

Justin SpearsGuest50:54

And if those two guys that tackle, they can stay healthy, then I think Arizona's going to be in pretty good shape.

I mean, that's what you want to hear, but, like, for this season for Noah, it's like, this is your last run with him.

So, is it even worth thinking about life after Noah? And I know they've got some pretty high-profile guys behind him, but, like, I mean, is it...

Because you want to have a program, right? Like, Nofita is going to go down as...

if not the best quarterback in Arizona history or one of the best players in program history, so like a program changer perhaps if everything goes well this season.

But you only got one more year of him.

So it's like that's pressure, right?

Justin SpearsGuest51:33

Yeah, totally.

Justin SpearsGuest51:33

There's totally pressure on the Arizona Wildcats this year, man, because, I mean, the greatest quarterback in program history, you want to make sure he's got the postseason – resume for that too you i mean the alamo bowl is great don't get me wrong but i mean don't you want to have another bowl win uh with no feet as your starting quarterback sure uh maybe get get to the college football playoff like i mean who knows the next time arizona will get a talented quarterback like noah now i mean they've got some good dudes like you said like oscar rios is really good um You know, we'll see about Caden Jones that they got coming in for the 2027 recruited class.

Justin SpearsGuest52:14

He's a really good quarterback.

Justin SpearsGuest52:16

Sawyer Anderson is another guy that they are very high on as a backup quarterback.

Justin SpearsGuest52:21

So, I mean, they have potential, but again, Noah's the greatest quarterback in Arizona history.

Justin SpearsGuest52:27

So there is definitely a lot of pressure on the Arizona Wildcats this year, no doubt.

Well, I think to Adam's point earlier, I think there's pressure, but there's also that can bring focus.

And pressure is a privilege.

Just like I think the players would say it's a privilege to be playing with Nofita and for Nofita, right? Is there one thing as we're heading towards camp, which is literally right around the corner...

Is there one thing you're looking to see when you're out there at practice that you see? Is it development from the spring? Have guys been in the weight room like anticipated? I know Danny Gonzalez on the Wildcaster was saying that all the guys power clean in 300.

It was like, what was it, 57, I think you said? 57, yep.

That's a lot of guys moving a lot of weight collectively, which kind of feels like where we talk about this whole roster composition.

It's like there's not necessarily the superstars, but there's just a lot of depth and talent.

And that's the definition of a program to some extent.

Is there something you're looking to see or maybe even some newcomers that you're most got your eye out for as camp starts?

Justin SpearsGuest53:36

Yeah, I think, well, the defensive backs are the most important or the most noteworthy position that everyone's wondering about this year because, I mean, you lose four NFL draft picks.

Justin SpearsGuest53:48

It wasn't just the big three that I mentioned earlier in Dalton Johnson, Trayden Stukes, and Genesis Smith, but you also lost Michael Dansby, who's drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round.

Justin SpearsGuest53:58

And then Aiden Garns also had – he's going to have a rookie – or he had a minicamp invite to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Justin SpearsGuest54:06

So that's five NFL defensive backs that you're losing.

Justin SpearsGuest54:10

So how are you going to replace those guys? Well, you have Gavin Hunter, you have JV on Cole, but you also have a bunch of newcomers from the transfer portal, eight of them to be exact.

Justin SpearsGuest54:20

And a couple of them did not really play in the spring.

Justin SpearsGuest54:23

They were limited because they had some off-season surgeries, working through some injuries.

Justin SpearsGuest54:29

We didn't see Daylon Austin at all this spring.

Justin SpearsGuest54:33

We didn't see – and Daylon Austin is the transfer from Oregon.

Justin SpearsGuest54:36

We didn't see Cam Chapa, who's the transfer from northern Colorado.

Justin SpearsGuest54:40

So, you know, a lot of those defensive backs, they were limited.

Justin SpearsGuest54:44

How those guys look, what positions do they play, that will be very interesting to see.

Justin SpearsGuest54:49

So I'm all in on the defensive backs, especially those middle positions at safety and at nickel.

Justin SpearsGuest54:56

And then I also think – For the offense, how is the situation going to look at tackle? And who is your two deep at tackle? And are those guys ready enough to play at the next level? They have been very high on Louis Akba, the backup to Tristan Bounds at right tackle.

Justin SpearsGuest55:18

And who knows with Tristan Bounds? I mean, I know Bounds is healthy, but you get banged up during the season.

Justin SpearsGuest55:24

It's a long season.

Justin SpearsGuest55:25

And so is Louis Akba ready? to play when his number is called this year.

Justin SpearsGuest55:31

So I think the backup tackle spots is something that I'm going to be looking at.

Justin SpearsGuest55:35

And then the wide receiver rotation as well.

Justin SpearsGuest55:37

You know, we've seen – Several guys be in the rotation, but will this be an expanded rotation this year? Will Arizona rely on 8-10 guys rather than 6 players like they did in the past? They have Trey Spivey coming back.

Justin SpearsGuest55:54

Gio Richardson, I think, is going to have a great year for Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest55:57

You also have Chris Hunter, the veteran.

Justin SpearsGuest55:59

who's been there since 2022, and then you add in Isaiah Mizell, and then the three transfers that I just mentioned, and Brandon Phelps.

Justin SpearsGuest56:08

So there's some really good wide receivers in that room.

Justin SpearsGuest56:12

How that all... trickles down or how that all, you know, comes down to, you know, finding rotation is going to be something that I, um, will be paying attention to, uh, this training camp.

Justin SpearsGuest56:22

So yeah, there's a, there's a number of, of storylines.

Justin SpearsGuest56:25

And also another one, uh, forgot to mention is backup quarterback, you know, QB two, you know, Noah, we all know is QB one, who's going to be that next guy in line, you know,

down at the end of every game, right?

Justin SpearsGuest56:38

Exactly.

Justin SpearsGuest56:39

You know, who's the guy that we see in the fourth quarter against NAU on September 5th? You know, is it Oscar Rios, the freshman, or is it the guy that I call Baby Daigie and Sawyer Anderson? The third option, Luke Hago.

Justin SpearsGuest56:53

Luke Hago, who's kind of different between all those guys.

Justin SpearsGuest56:57

He's like a big body quarterback, so he kind of like sticks out like a sore thumb.

Justin SpearsGuest57:00

But, you know, he's actually really mobile and athletic.

Justin SpearsGuest57:05

And he showed a lot of good stuff in the spring.

Justin SpearsGuest57:07

So I think we might be sleeping on Luke Hago a little bit as QB2 for Arizona.

Justin SpearsGuest57:13

So, yeah, that will be another thing that I look forward to this training camp.

You know, it sounds like just as we wrap up here with Justin Spears is that, you know, there's going to be competition always.

And there's some spots that they need to figure out who's going to step up.

But there's a lot of options.

There's a lot of reason to think that Arizona will be fine at the positions they're trying to fill.

And it kind of got me thinking that I guess the question, maybe this is even a fair question.

I don't know how you could answer it, but like how comfortable is the Arizona football program right now?

Justin SpearsGuest57:40

Very comfortable.

Justin SpearsGuest57:41

But see, the thing is, is like I talk about like how it's calm.

Justin SpearsGuest57:49

And Brent Brennan, he kind of got feisty with me on my radio show when I asked him about that because I asked him that same question.

Justin SpearsGuest57:55

I was like, it seems like you guys are more comfortable and settled in.

Justin SpearsGuest57:59

And he's like, I'm sure as heck hope not.

Justin SpearsGuest58:03

We're trying to get better.

Justin SpearsGuest58:04

We're trying to get better, Justin.

Justin SpearsGuest58:05

We're not trying to win nine games regularly.

Justin SpearsGuest58:08

We want to win more games.

Justin SpearsGuest58:10

We want to contend for championships.

Justin SpearsGuest58:11

So Brent was like, hey, this is not the – the time to get complacent.

Justin SpearsGuest58:17

It's time to build and it's time to win more football games and turn Arizona, not necessarily into a football school, but as college football changes, The Arizona Wildcats want to make sure that they have a seat at the table.